RAF 1/48 Tamiya Bristol Beaufighter Mk.VIF 61053

Started by Chuck A. Villanueva · 95 ≡ · ↻ 6 years ago
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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    Thanks DL-one of the best free flowing assembly of a kit I have worked on so far. More so than the previous Tam kits.
    Thanks Morne-this one won't be so detailed, but I think the next one I will do a little more, but not so as yours. Don't think I can equal what you have invested in your Beaufighter.
    Thanks Paul, I am thinking of adding one more build if the Eurofighter nose isn't located soon.

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    Morne Meyer said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    Chuck I can't wait to see the paint job that you are going to apply to your Beaufighter! The nice thing is that these aircraft weathered badly in the hot climate of North Africa and in the Pacific so one can weather it very well.

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    Thanks Morne, I don't have any aircraft in the RAF in this scheme yet, so it's a first for me. That I have built so far.

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    Morne Meyer said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    The desert camo scheme faded heavily under the harsh African climate. Even the Azure blue faded due to heat reflected from the hot desert surface. The B 24 Liberators, painted desert sand, turned into a slight pink color for instance. Something often noted on these desert camo aircraft are streaking left by condensation or sometimes rain running down the dust covered fuselage and wings. Would be awesome if you can replicate that since it adds to that worn and weathered appearance.

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Morne Meyer said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    The streaking on my P 47 was done with a fan shaped brush moistened with Acrylic thinners and tipped into white weathering powder lightly brushing vertically along the fuselage.

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    Louis Gardner said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    This is another very neat idea. Thanks for sharing this with us.

    Chuck, you're moving right along... Looks good !

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    david leigh-smith said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    Love the weathering on that Jug, Morne.

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    This step, I will finish up the interior portion of the build.

    A test fit of the interior into the RH side of the fuselage. Loosely place the LH side fuselage to the RH side to check for any alignment issues and obstructions. None as expected but you never know about the human factor.

    Once satisfied, I install the observers seat

    Next is the rear entry door I leave this loose for now as I attach the LH side fuselage sandwiching the door in between.

    Once the cement sets, I put that aside, leaving the pilots seat out for now. Next up is the tail. More to follow.

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    Louis Gardner said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    Those seat belts look very good ! Tamiya packed a lot of detail into this one...

    For me it seems like once you get the fuselage buttoned up, the rest of the build progresses fairly quick.

    Are you building this one with the "flat" horizontal stabilizers or the "V" type ? I think you can modify the kit parts a little to do either one if you need to. I guess it all depends on which version of the Beaufighter your building and what decals you will be using.

    Looks good Chuck ! I can't wait to see the next installment... 🙂

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    Allan J Withers said 6 years, 5 months ago:

    Coming along nicely Chuck !

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 6 years, 4 months ago:

    Thanks Allan, as well as your projects, your keeping busy like Louis.

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 6 years, 4 months ago:

    Morne, that weathering technique on the T-bolt, looks great. Subtle and just enough to show the wear of combat and environment. I will need to try that on a similar build down the road and see if I can pull it off.

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 6 years, 4 months ago:

    Thanks Louis, it will be the V-tail, though a straight tail variant I would plan to do maybe on the next one in line. I just wonder if Airfix will put one out or several versions to add to the 3 that Tamiya has produced

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    Chuck A. Villanueva said 6 years, 4 months ago:

    Quick update, In this step I will install the tail rudder assy.


    2 pieces very well done and snaps right into place.

    Next up the wings. More to follow.

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    Louis Gardner said 6 years, 4 months ago:

    Ahhhh, you just have to love these Tamiya kits. They fit like clockwork for the most part. The last Tamiya kit I built was the 1/48 scale Me-262 and it has to be one of my most enjoyable builds to date.

    Looks like you're having fun with this one too... 🙂

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